Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1825
Special Meeting January 23rd: Planning Commission Drafting Zoning Code re: Towers To the Editor: We the Planning Commission are drafting a zoning code update to propose to the Borough Assembly to regulate communication towers locally. Our current code was written before cell phones and so does not contemplate tower locations. We are hoping to remedy this. Drafting this code is difficult and complicated because of binding FCC regulations — if we draft conflicting or illegal code, it can and will be struck down by the courts and then we'll be b...
Wrangell’s economic development board, which advises the assembly, has raised several questions about a possible borough land lease for a California-based company to build and operate a small-scale data center. The board voted 5-0 on Jan. 5 to recommend the assembly move forward with the lease for one or two acres at the former 6-Mile Mill property, but not until board members added several issues that they believe the assembly needs to consider. Those include any water discharge from the data center, the potential for noise and light p...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly has approved having temporary sales tax exemption cards available for seniors with pending eligibility. Petersburg voters passed a proposition this fall that limits the town’s senior sales tax exemption to only seniors who qualify as low-income. That eligibility is determined by the state’s income-based Senior Benefits Payment Program. As the Borough’s qualification change goes into effect in January, seniors applying for an exemption card need to show the Petersburg Borough’s finance office proof of eligibi... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved prioritized lists of capital projects for state and federal funding requests at its Jan. 5 meeting. The priority list is topped by two projects that have been selected for Congressionally Directed Spending but have not yet survived the congressional appropriations gauntlet – $2 million for an overhaul of the Banana Point boat launch facilities and $8 million toward wastewater treatment plant improvements. The Banana Point project — which has been supported in appropriation bills by U.S. Sen...
January 2025 The Petersburg Borough Assembly agreed to transfer seven parcels of borough-owned land in the Airport Addition Subdivision to Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority (THRHA) in exchange for the developing road and utilities for 11 residential lots. The snowpack at the Raven's Ridge snow survey site at 1,650 ft elevation measured zero inches. One of only two years on record without snowpack in January. Rock-N-Road Construction was awarded the contract for the borough's Pump Station...
Wrangell borough assembly took a step toward attracting private investment in building and operating a shipyard at the 6-Mile mill property, which the borough purchased for $2.5 million more than three years ago. During its Dec. 16 meeting, the assembly voted to approve a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Seattle-based JAG Marine Group. The agreement sets the stage for a long-term public-private partnership at the 6-Mile property, which Wrangell officials want to develop as a deepwater port. If JAG, which runs shipyards in Ketchikan and...
While the 23-year-old, 360-foot-long American Empress cruise ship is being stripped of its superstructure for conversion into a deck barge, the borough is looking at buying four diesel generators to use as a backup power source for industrial development plans at the former 6-Mile mill site. The dismantling and conversion work started last month at the Tideline Construction operation at 6-Mile, where the company runs a scrap metal recycling business and is taking apart the Empress for the ship’s owner, American Cruise Lines. The four C...
People who have been shoveling snow in central Southeast Alaska might feel a bit like Sisyphus, rolling his boulder uphill. But the heavy snowfall that buried many panhandle communities this past week is no myth. Over 40 inches of snow has fallen on Petersburg since Monday, Dec. 8. Edward Liske, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau, said that's already more than the town got all of last winter. Sixteen inches of snow fell in Petersburg on Sunday, Dec. 14, breaking the... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a handful of changes to the borough's budget earlier this month, including spending $11,000 to repair damage at the town's ball field. An intense wind storm in September caused one dugout to completely collapse and the adjacent structure covering the bleachers to lean significantly. At the Dec. 1 Borough Assembly meeting, Little League President Becky Turland said the ball field is important to many in the community. "Little League uses the ball fields. T... Full story
Tlingit & Haida’s Tidal Network is embarking on a seven-city tour of Southeast communities this month to update people on the organization’s plans for wireless internet service in the region and listen to community concerns. The Petersburg session is planned for 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15, at the John Hanson Sr. Community Hall. The session also will be on Zoom: www.tinyurl.com/TidalPetersburgListening. Tidal Network has encountered differing levels of opposition to its plans to put up telecommunications towers in Wrangell, Sitka, Petersburg a...
The Alaska Board of Game will consider nearly 70 proposals affecting Southeast Alaska during its January 23-27, 2026 meeting in Wrangell, including several that would directly impact hunting regulations around Petersburg and on Mitkof Island. The meeting will be held at the Nolan Center in Wrangell, with remote participation available via Zoom. Written comments are due by January 9 to be included in the board’s meeting materials. The Petersburg Fish and Game Advisory Committee is reviewing the proposals ahead of the January meeting. The c...
A 150-foot communications tower under construction on Mill Road and two other proposed towers have drawn numerous Petersburg residents to three recent borough assembly meetings to voice concerns about Tidal Network’s broadband infrastructure project. What began as scattered questions in September has grown into organized opposition, with residents collecting signatures, forming a Facebook group, consulting lawyers, and pressing the assembly to address a project many say they learned about only after construction began. “I was shocked. I had...
To the Editor: It has recently come to my attention that there has been some talk in Petersburg implying that Raliegh Cook and his wife Marsha have befriended me in order to obtain some type of advantage. Absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. My wife and I have known Raliegh Cook since he was about ten years old and have been friends with him ever since. Plotting to take some type of advantage over us is completely out of character for him. All the many years we have known him he has been totally honest and shown himself to be...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved the hiring of Steve Harbour as the borough's next utility director at their early November meeting. Harbour, currently an electrician-operator at the borough's power plant, will begin his new role on December 30, 2025, at an annual salary of $160,000. Current Utility Director Karl Hagerman will remain in the position until July 2026, providing a six-month overlap period that borough officials praised. "This doesn't happen very often where we...
Petersburg District Ranger Carey Case announced at the Nov. 3 Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting that the Thomas Bay timber stewardship contract has been awarded. The Petersburg Pilot has confirmed that Alaska Timber and Truss, owned in partnership by Brett Martin and Mike Duman, was awarded the contract. The stewardship project represents a significant milestone for the local sawmill and the broader second-growth timber industry in Southeast Alaska. The contract encompasses 4.6 million board feet of timber spread across approximately 140 acre...
WRANGELL — In a 3-1 vote, the planning and zoning commission responded to concerns and opposition raised by residents and denied Tidal Network’s application for a conditional-use permit to erect a 230-foot-tall telecommunications tower near 13-Mile Zimovia Highway. “My brain is telling me yes. My heart is telling me (vote) no,” said Jillian Privett, one of three commission members who voted against the permit on Nov. 4. “This is really difficult.” Commissioners indicated that the height of the tower and the visual impacts of the structure and l...
Scott Newman has returned to his seat at the dais as the seventh member of the Petersburg Borough Assembly. When voters in the October municipal election chose Bob Lynn as Petersburg's new mayor, the move opened up his seat on the borough assembly. Bob Martin and Jeff Meucci were sworn in last month as newly-elected assembly members. Their seats were previously filled by Newman and Donna Marsh. Marsh ran for reelection to the assembly this fall as the sole incumbent in the race for the two... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 6-0 last week to sell seven parcels of borough-owned land to Skylark Park LLC at half their appraised value. The reduced price reflects the project's public benefit purpose: creating at least 20 new residential lots in a community facing a dire housing shortage. The assembly authorized the sale of the lots for $55,500 - 50% of their $111,000 appraised value and well below their $188,300 assessed value. The sale includes Lots 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 in Block A of...
After years of planning and development, Petersburg's Scow Bay Boat Haulout project is nearly ready for construction. PND Engineer Dick Somerville presented a progress report on the 65% design completion at a joint work session with harbor board, assembly and economic development officials on Wednesday morning. Somerville highlighted that all the necessary funding has been secured for the $15.07 million project, the permitting is in progress, and as long as the federal government eventually...
The final piece of funding is in place for replacement of the deteriorating breakwater system at Banana Point, with construction expected to begin next spring. The Petersburg Borough Assembly accepted a $78,000 contribution last week from the Petersburg Indian Association to close a gap between the project's existing budget and the lowest construction bid. The borough has issued a notice to award to bidders and plans to present a contract for assembly authorization at its next meeting,...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly has reversed its previous decision about an application to buy borough-owned land. Dave Ohmer is a local developer who wants to purchase two lots on Haugen Drive to build housing rentals. When the borough assembly initially considered his application in July, Ohmer stressed the need for more housing in town. "It's endless, the people that need homes in Petersburg," Ohmer told the assembly on July 21. "For a young family, it's virtually impossible to get into a... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved the appointment of Michelle Lopez to lead both the elderly housing and assisted living operations at Mountain View Manor, consolidating two director positions that had been separate for the past three years. Lopez, who has served as the Elderly Housing Director, will assume the combined role of Assisted Living and Elderly Housing Director at an annual salary of $100,000. The assembly voted 6-0 to approve the hire at its Oct. 21 meeting. "I'm...
At the start of Monday's Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting newly elected assembly members Bob Martin and Jeff Meucci were sworn into office by Borough Clerk Becky Regula. The swearing-in was followed moments later by newly elected Petersburg Mayor Bob Lynn offering remarks of appreciation and gratitude and presenting a commemorative gavel to outgoing, long-serving Petersburg Mayor Mark Jensen....
Petersburg's municipal election received the highest number of ballots this year in over a decade. A total of 1,280 ballots were cast and canvassed, including one outstanding ballot. It was the highest turnout since Petersburg voted to become a borough in December 2012, which saw just over a hundred more ballots than this year. There were a couple of contested races for local office this year, namely for mayor and for Petersburg's Borough Assembly. It was Bob Martin's first time running for an a...
Bob Lynn decisively won Petersburg's mayoral race in the October 7 municipal election, defeating fellow assembly member Scott Newman 807 to 443 votes, while Proposition 1 - limiting the senior sales tax exemption to only low-income seniors - squeaked by with a nine-vote margin. The unofficial results showed strong voter participation, with a record-breaking number of early and absentee ballots cast before election day (647) and the highest local voter turnout (1279) since the borough formation...
